Guess What guesswhatguesswhatguesswhatguesswhat: In the last week, two incredibly kewl things have happened at my personal site, the Roman Outpost.

One, I had a newbie subscribe to the e-List...he wrote me that he'd been referred by Dan Peterson.

Dan Peterson!!!

OK, OK, never heard of him, right? --Bene: Dan Peterson is a major figure in the Roman-reenactment scene in Europe; he commands the Legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix in Germany. I believe he has also worked with, among others, Britain's Ermine Street Guard; the Gemina Project in the Netherlands; and Marcus Junkelmann's Legio XXI Rapax, which marched one year from (I think) Verona to Augsburg, spending 23 days on the road, building a camp every night and just generally bein' a buncha Romans all the way. (I would have killed to be on that walk.)

Still don't remember him...? --He's also the author of The Roman Legions Recreated in Colour Photographs, which shows just about every unit in existence at the time of publication, with details of their gear, and should be available at just about any RenFaire, SCA/reenactor venue, or wargamer hangout near you.

And he's sending people to my site!

(!)

* Marius enters his meditation space and stays there long enough to overcome a major 'starstruck' attack *

* Marius emerges *

..OK, I can breathe. Now where was I...?

..Oh, yes. Two. Two, my humble Page is the #3 site listed in the Cives Romani Webring (Proud Member Since 1998).

In the last several days I have experienced both a family tragedy (that I saw coming) and a neighborhood trauma (that nobody saw coming). I have not been exactly "together" in consequence...not that I was all that well-assembled to begin with.

I'm going to lay low for a while. Admin tasks on the Board will still be seen to, and I'll reply to any PMs; but I think it best if I refrain from posting until I've settled a bit.

I'd also like to apologize if anything I have posted in the last week or so has given offense. In particular, I ask the forgiveness of our newest member, Decimus Caecilius Metellus, whom I believe I greeted with a casualness that may have bordered on the insulting, which message even jarred me when I reread it.

Doing better now, amici; it's helped to stay involved, here and in other places. Gratias vobis ago, omnes; you guys are a good group of people, and if I keep saying that, it's because it keeps being so. >({|:-)

I'll take the valetudoand the bona fortuna; I've been making the rounds of the VA medical system hereabouts (nothing worrisome, just getting checked out); by the time they get done prodding me, I'll have been vanned across half the State of Oklahoma, and I'll likely want to spend the week afterwards face-down on my mattress.

In sum: Expect me to be a patchy fog for the next few weeks. I'll still be on every day/night, but I might not be feeling very frisky. >({|:-|

The VA's done prodding me now; on to some serious work. Seems I've got a bit of cancer... We think it's pretty localised, and we've caught it very, very early; but the affected bit will still need to be removed, and that could happen anytime this summer, and I'm going to be laid up for several weeks (possibly a few months) before I feel anything like myself again.

I should be able to hunker over my laptop within a couple of weeks after the surgery. The attention and energy it takes for me to administer the SVR site and this Board may be a bit harder to come by; I doubt I'll be doing much, if any, Webmastering while I heal up. Fortunately, Tiberius Draco (who served as Aedilis for almost three years) has pledged to maintain the site for me and to keep the Spammatici from overrunning the Board. (I've made a change to the registration procedure to make that job easier.) My fellow Curatores are also aware of my situation.

The Album Sodalium, the Webmail, and the membership applications will be taken care of. We have successfully and completely transferred onto Octavius Gracchus' server. I have one essay contribution that I need to upload before my life gets any more interesting. Other'n that, the site should be pretty low-maintenance for a while. And I trust that you yourselves, amici Romani, will bring suitable offerings to Roman Gatherings and General-->On the Roman Web, as well as anywhere else you see might need a little love! >({|:-)

I'll post here when I get some dates for all this. But that's what's going on, and these are the provisions we've made for my impending absence.

I am touched by your message; it's been a long time since anyone said anything about me with any emotion. For most of my adult life, I've been the guy sort of ticking along in the background and keeping everything running smoothly. It's easy to overlook the backstage folks. I am happy to say that has not been a problem in the SVR; if anything, I've had a bit too much attention in the Curia! <g>> Was this the reason for the VA tests you mentioned in April?Not in concept; but in consequence, yes. The VA tests were to get an idea of why my body has been going a little haywire in recent years. This is what they came up with. Bene, for me it's a relief to finally have a name for the thing, instead of the "What the Sam Hill is the matter with me??" that's been my state of health since I got caught in a bad jet-fuel spill during my Air Force years.

I won't say I'm not worried--but I'm not very worried. This thing is tiny and, like the rest of me, it's not in a hurry; in the sample they took, over 95% of the cells were still healthy, and I've been walking around like this for years. My psychiatric condition in its original state was far more life-threatening, and I'm still here to joke about that. >({|;-)

I am going to feel a lot better once the defective component is removed. And that's what it is to me--another repair job; another hind-end to kick. Uncle Sam knows I'm good for that.

I hate the real world expression "I'm there for you" because it is usually followed by the unspoken, "...but don't actually ask me to do anything". In the virtual world, however, it's almost the best we can offer and it is unspeakably inadequate.

So I will just add my voice to Iohannes: GIVE IT HELL, Mari, GIVE IT HELL!

(Marius/in the background ... I'm sorry, I'm having trouble reconciling those two propositions.)

You know, maybe those among us who practice the religio can devise an appropriate offering or ceremony?

I've always been a bit of a 'shoemaker's elf'...whether as the supply troop, the database wizard, or the mechanic scootched into a crawlspace maybe eight inches deep, I've always liked and had a knack for making wonderful things happen when nobody's looking.

I took the Webmaster spot because I thought it'd be more of the same. You know, sitting snug in my little cubbyhole, coding essays and other offerings, hunting for Spammers, keeping the Album Sodalium up-to-date...

What they forgot to tell me was that, in an online organization, that's tantamount to running the place. Eeep! >({|8-|

So...no backstage for me this last year-and-a-half. But the sunburn from the spotlight has faded, and I've had time to get used to it. <g>> You know, maybe those among us who practice the religio can devise an appropriate offering or ceremony?Now, that would just be kewl beyond words!

My heartfelt thanks, also, to my fellows in the Curia, who have been painting the walls with their well-wishes and support for some time now. >({|:-)

We are now getting pretty close to time for me to bug out on ya's for a while.

Over the last few months, Tiberius Draco has been taking increasing responsibility for the site. He's always helped me with the Spammers here, and he'll be the one coding and uploading our next two essay contributions from Cleopatra Aelia--yes, we have two more coming! >({|:-D

Quintus Servilius has the Webmail and membership matters covered. We've had three Sodales join us just this month, furthering a trend that may have us back up to our pre-Census numbers a lot sooner than we thought.

I am working on Cleo's first essay right now. The body of it is already on the server, and I just need to work in the graphics. Other'n daily maintenance, that should be the last major mod I'll be doing to the Web site until further notice. But really, there's nothing going on with the site (that I know of) that can't wait another few months. That Flash navbar isn't keeping anybody from exploring our lovely Pages. I'd be more worried about broken links (and do report them to Draco if you find any).

Next Thursday and Friday I go to Tulsa for my "semifinal" labs; the final ones, and my own "preflight briefing", take place in Oklahoma City on September 4th. Considering how badly these trips tire me out (Tulsa's a 100-mile round trip, OKC is twice that, which would only be a medium nuisance if I weren't making so many of them!), I'm going to be pretty much unavailable to anybody but the VA after Cleo's essay goes up. But I know I'm leaving the site and Forum in good, experienced hands. That is one thing I won't be worrying about in the hospital.

My only gripe is that I'll be missing more stimulating (if low-key) discussions like we've been having lately. Keep the place warm for me, will ya's? Contribute to Roman Gatherings if you know of any, and report on the ones you do attend. Someone's bound to review that new movie, The Last Legion. General-->On the Roman Web could also use a little love; I haven't been as productive there lately as I would've liked. Anyone interested in the RP thread, we're having a discussion about what to do next with it; you can start a game without me, I'll just introduce my character later!

And you can bet I'm going to rest up as long as I need to (and maybe a couple of days after that). I seem to be on the verge of becoming Webmaster for Life; I don't see anyone hiring mobs of gladiators to pry me out of my seat, so this may be the only break I'm gonna get! >({|;-)

I have about four more weeks of dealing with the VA. Hail, tornadoes, and floods have been another recent preoccupation; my house repairs are nearly complete now. I should be able therefore to visit more frequently. Usque conabor. Still much work to do in the hortus Cereri, however.

Amice bon', I thought you'd maybe done like the fishies and floated away! You should put in an appearance on Erici's List; he's been very worried about you.

We had a spot of flooding in Oklahoma/Kansas early last month. Here I was, three minutes up the road from Ma's house, and we couldn't see each other because the intersection between her major cross-street and mine was an absolute lake...not a large one, no, but quite nasty; an oil spill in upstream Kansas made it likely to get nastier; and it was therefore not a recommended swim for Wolves and their little dogs.